2004-2007 Cadillac CTS-V General Discussion Discussion, Cure for your winter time blues - More CARNAGE! in Cadillac CTS-V Series Forum - 2004 - 2007; For one thing, the bearings were different than what both sets of paperwork said. I haven't removed my rings from ...

Re: Cure for your winter time blues - More CARNAGE!

For one thing, the bearings were different than what both sets of paperwork said. I haven't removed my rings from the pistons yet and checked the gap to see if they are close to what the build sheet says and I haven't measured the bore diameters.

Looking down the cylinder walls, there are verticle places about 1/2" wide where the rings sealed better than the rest of each bore. These surfaces are pretty much in alignment with the cooling jackets. I'm sure when I measure I will find that the cylinders are not perfectly round. I specifically told TSP that I was using head bolts and not head studs, it's looks like they attached the torque plate with studs instead of bolts causing slightly different cylinder distortion than the ARP bolts I used to attach the heads. As a reference, my stock LS2 bores were as smooth as the verticle marks on the TSP bores and had better looking cross hatching and ring sealing.

Be very aware of what ancilliary parts they recommend. For instance, they recommended 'Comp stock replacement lifters'. "These are what we use in our builds" is a VERY common sales pitch they all use there. The ones they recommended and sold me are the long (stock) travel 850-16's. I really wish I would have caught that and got what I used with my cammed LS2, the 875-16's. The 875's are the reduced travel ones that comp carries, not the complete race short travel ones, 15850-16.

My sales rep was 'Johnny on the spot" until I received my parts. It took several tries to get him to send me the build sheet (looking back now I think he just found any old sheet and sent it to me). After I started having crankcase pressure and oil consumption issues I tried calling him multiple times and emailing him. I got no reply and since it was 4 months after I installed and started running the motor I figured that I knew what their response would be.....there is no warranty, blah, blah, blah.

I have always been on the Comp trunion upgrade bandwagon and I've installed them on every head and cam setup I've ever done for myself and anyone else. I'm going to see if the ones I removed from my LS2 have any resistance/grinding. Yes, I still have used parts in my basement from three years ago that I never plan on using. I have read elsewhere that the Comp trunions have a tendency to wear out one the wear side with higher spring pressures. The max recommended by the Comp rep I spoke with is 450 pounds so I should have been fine.

Re: Cure for your winter time blues - More CARNAGE!

My research suggests that the maximum parameters to run the stock rockers reliably are is 0.600 lift and 400 pounds of open spring pressure. The stock LS1/LS2/LS3/LS6 valvetrain is designed for 0.550 lift and at any lift above that the rockers start to scrub the valve tips which in turn introduces some degree of flex into the valvetrain operation. It is generally accepted practice to push the envelope to 0.600 without seriously degrading reliable operation. But, make no mistake the benchmark for reliabilty is 0.550 and not 0.600. Additonally, lift is not the only variable since the shape of the camshaft (ramp rates) can also introduce flex into the valvetrain. If the cam requires more than 400 pounds of open spring pressure whether because of its lift or its ramp rates the stock rocker is operating beyond its intended design.

Re: Cure for your winter time blues - More CARNAGE!

Look where that got me. I think I've decided on a set of scorpion rockers, morel 5206 lifters, Manton's 11/16" pushrods, a bigger cam and changing out the valve springs to a set recommended by Comp for my new cam.

Re: Cure for your winter time blues - More CARNAGE!

Originally Posted by PISNUOFF

Look where that got me. I think I've decided on a set of scorpion rockers, morel 5206 lifters, Manton's 11/16" pushrods, a bigger cam and changing out the valve springs to a set recommended by Comp for my new cam.

The Scorpion rockers used to have a bad reputation on that other forum, but I do know how much of that was just hearsay and/or imcompetent setups. I would check to see if they have a stated max spring rate.

Re: Cure for your winter time blues - More CARNAGE!

Looks like smeared metal to me. Either material defect or machining defect. I suspect it has something to do with defective blocks being bought from GM and bored .015 over. I've heard rumors but didn't think it was true, until now. There is no way normal operation would cause the material to so that in a radial direction. This motor was NEVER over heated or anything like that. I never even had the car on the track with this motor.